Exotic Ginger Plants

• Gingers are members of the family Zingiberaceae, the most widely known species is the edible ginger root Zingiber officinale that we find on grocery store shelves. More exotic and ornamental varieties exists with bright colorful flowers and similar growth habits. All gingers have a tuberous root system and reed-like stems with long green leaves. Most are tropical plants that do not like cold temperatures.

Red Ginger

• Red ginger (Alpinia purpurata) is native to the South Pacific islands but has been naturalized in most wet tropical areas. It grows to a height of 3 to 15 feet tall and has long green leaves with parallel veins. The flowers are spikes of tube shaped flowers in shades or red, pink and white. Red ginger is a major cut flower export crop in Hawaii.

  Red ginger likes full sun to part shade and moist well draining soil that is organically rich. It does not tolerate drought and needs at least 1 inch of irrigation a week to perform at its best. It does not tolerate salt or alkaline soils very well. It is primarily propagated by root cuttings which produce stalks along the nodes. Each stalk flowers once and then should be removed.

Pineapple Ginger

• Pineapple ginger (Curcuma alismatifolia) is an exotic relative to the spice turmeric (Curcuma longa) and is cold hardy to USDA zone 8 to 9, withstanding winter temperatures down to 10 to 20 degrees. It grows to 2 feet tall and has wide red like leaves but short stems. The flowers are produced on top of stalks rising above the foliage. They look similar to the top of a pineapple but have short pink bracts.

  Pineapple ginger likes full sun with hot and humid summers and a lot of water, but it needs to drain well. It benefits from acidic soil with mixed in organic matter. It can be used as a container plant and moved indoors to a cool dry place during the coldest months. The tubers can also be dug and stored in a non-freezing basement covered in moist peat.

Kaempferia

• Kaempferia is a genus of ginger plants that grows differently than other gingers. Instead of growing upright they tend to stay short and low to the ground with large rounded leaves, often with patterns of dark spots. They look very much like hostas and used as a substitute in tropical and subtropical gardens. Although they produce showy flowers, the foliage is what adds an exotic look to a garden. the flowers are single and are low in the center of the foliage.

  Kaempferias like shade to light sun and moist soil. Many types such as K. pulchra with bronze and green leaves can withstand temperatures down to the mid teens (USDA hardiness zone 8) for short periods. K. rotunda with large 30 inch long leaves that are silvery on top and burgundy underneath can withstand slightly cooler temperatures down to USDA zone 7.